The Hammer or The Nail

     Hello folks. It’s been a couple of weeks since I last wrote to you. It’s been an exciting couple of weeks for me, as I have been to a three day conference for newly elected officials. Kentucky League of Cities puts on the “City Officials Academy”  to help educate newly elected and/or reelected city officials on what powers they have or rather the powers they don’t have.

     I will spare you the details of the information I learned because it is mind numbingly boring, and that’s if you’re eager to learn about it. In all fairness, KLC did a pretty good job of keeping it interesting enough that I didn’t fall asleep once in class. If you know me, you’ll know I am easily distracted and get bored pretty quick. However, I have a town to consider now so I fueled up with coffee and stayed wide-eyed and bushy tailed. Much of the information I learned can be used to help Bedford. I have to caution those who want Bedford to be a better place because that means there will be changes. Changes are not easy and sometimes painful. God knows, I understand that better than most.

     There are many critics of elected officials. I am one of them. Just ask me sometime. But the cement that binds every single elected official is the reality that we are accountable to the people we represent. We have to be great sales people if we ever want to pass any kind of legislation. Just look at President Obama, can you imagine him on a used car lot? I believe he could sell a car without an engine and on cinder blocks as a high speed sports car. So what does that do for the people? Some would buy that car without regard of the cost and work tirelessly to make it run. And even when they were faced with undeniable defeat, they would insist that the car just needs more gas. Others might see things at face value and call the sales person out and refuse to buy the car. While a few will stand there scratching their chins wondering if the car really can be the sports car they are being led to believe.  All in all, being a politician is similar to being a sales person.

     So here I am, I have dreams. I have visions of what I would like to see in the little town of Bedford. I am sure every elected official can say the same about their town, county, district, state, or country. The trick is coming up with a way to communicate the vision in such a way that people will want to join in the cause. I tell people, I am focused on the future.  I have to admit that almost every idea that I come up with is not new, but the people resisted change. If you think about it you will know the most often used phrase, “That’s not how we do it here.”

     “We’ve never done that before.”

      “The last person who tried that didn’t get re-elected.”

      And my personal favorite, “You’re the first (or only) person to complain.”

     When you hear those words, you know you are scratching the surface of something much bigger.  A smart person would drop the issue. I have been accused of many things, but smart or intelligent is most certainly not one of them.

     Going to the KLC conference did enlighten me on the reality that my ideas are not unique. They are essential to every community, big or small. It all comes down to planning. What do we plan? If we don’t plan, that is a plan to fail. Everyone is familiar with the old adage that if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice. That may be words from a RUSH song, yeah I think it is.

     Anyway, not planning is the same as agreeing not to plan. The hard part about planning is there is a lot of effort put into ideas about the unknown. Sure we can look at sophisticated demographic studies and trends relating to growth potential. But I like to think about it all differently. Let’s say you saw a glimpse into the future that you were going to die of a heart attack in ten years. Would you do a self-assessment and start trying to make healthier life choices and try to change that outcome? I most certainly would do everything I can to change it. Speaking of Bedford and Trimble County, look over the last ten years and count how many loved ones you have lost. Who has come along to fill their shoes? No one. Who is living in their house? AH, now that is a deep question isn’t it? Because some families choose to sell their loved ones house and property, some choose to rent it out. Either way, change has taken place.

     I will wrap it up with this question, do you want to be the hammer or the nail? I want to hear from you. Our opinions may differ and that is what is great about our country. We can disagree and it is healthy to have debates. As long as we can agree that personal attacks be left out of the conversation. We don’t have to like one another, but if you live in Bedford-we should be talking about what this area will be like when we’re gone. Who is gonna move into our houses? Where will our children live when they grow up?

      Thank you for reading my blog today. God Bless You! And as for the sickness I described in my last blog post, I am getting better but I have a long way to go. I have gain 25 pounds since Christmas and I don’t have the motivation or energy to do anything about it. So, please, keep those prayers coming.

Clean Up Bedford

     Hello readers. As of January 1, I am now the Mayor of Bedford, KY.  I apologize for being late with my post this week, but I have been busy and extremely sick. I am not feeling any better. But, I am hopeful that, like every other obstacle in my life, God will have mercy on me and pull me through it swiftly.

     About the busy part, as you can imagine I have been spending a lot of time at city hall looking through books and reading old documents. It, truly, is fascinating to me. One of the most interesting things I learned is that my great-great-great-great-great-great (You get the point) grandfather was Chairman of the town board of trustees in Bedford over a hundred years ago.  Some of these documents date back over a 160 years and they need to be preserved but in all honesty the city does not have money for that at this time. God willing, I will find a way to get the money to preserve those aged materials in the future. For now, I have present day things to work on but I will keep you posted on that.

     Whether I am at city hall or anywhere else in town, I keep hearing that Bedford is a slum town. I abhor the word “slum” but that is the most used description I hear. As a commissioner, I was part of a group that would send letters to people telling them to clean up their property. In 1997, the city had sent a numerous letters to a certain landlord that hid behind his bible. At a commission meeting, I boldly said I will go see him. I’ve been reading my bible since I was six years old and quite confident that I understand the King James Version pretty good. When I first arrived at the landlord’s home, he was very nice and pretty much what I expected. But after I started showing him pictures of his properties, that I had taken, his pulpit demeanor came out and he started preaching hellfire and brimstone to me. Had I not been a well-read bible person, he would have most certainly convinced me I was going to HELL for questioning his business dealings with renters in town. I had the last word that day by reminding him that Jesus told people to obey the laws of the land. To the average citizen, his rental properties didn’t look a whole lot better but his renters were grateful because he started making much needed steps to repair and clean-up his properties. He didn’t go above and beyond what the law said, but he did work on it. It’s worthy to note, his health went downhill not long after that and he died. Coincidence? You decide.

     The city has an ordinance that lays out what is called a nuisance. It’s very detailed and in common language so that even a primary school student can understand it. However, I think it needs to be tweeked just a bit. It’s going to take some time to complete it.

     More on the ordinance, I must first remind everyone that our country was founded on the principles of protecting citizens from the government. After all, our nation’s founders knew first-hand what it was like to be oppressed by an all-powerful government and they wanted America to be different and unique in the sense that it would be set up on the premise that the people rule the government not the other way around. But as far as getting people to pick up trash on their property, I think they would agree with me that having a law in place is a good idea.

     Over the last few days, I have been to a bunch of different places in town talking to renters about cleaning up around their dwellings. What I found most often brought me to tears. At one place, the person explained to me that they were paying $500-$625 a month. When I informed the person that I would talk to their landlord, I was asked not to do that because the landlord would evict them and their family had nowhere else to go right now. My icy heart melted, because I see the catch-22 that is in front of me.

     I have said this before, but it needs restating from time to time to remind people that the city of Bedford is not run by one person. It is a Commission form of government. That means virtually everything is done with consent of the majority. On the issue of cleaning up Bedford, I have confidence that I will be able to present my plan to the commission and we, as a group, can work on it and start effecting change by spring. I believe the landlord is the responsible party and law enforcement should start with them. In case there are some landlords reading my blog, go look at your properties and ask yourself this question, “Would I live there?” If the truth were to come out, the answer would not only be “No” but it would be a “Hell NO!” My feeling is that if a person has the financial means to own rental properties, he or she can afford to keep up with those rental properties. But that’s just my opinion. If necessary, the court will decide and we can go from there.

     That is all I have for today. I appreciate your time to read my lovely blog. God willing, I will be feeling better next week and will have something happier to say. If you pray, say extra prayers for me.